Loose Ends

06 Monday May 2013

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Or updates that don’t warrant their own posts but come with photos:

*The cats aren’t embracing their new healthy lifestyle.  Well, Clementine is fine, but Anna keeps gaining weight.  I half expect her to simply explode.  She’s sneaky, she wolfs down her food and then, when my back is turned, she dives face first into Clementine’s bowl.  Also, she steals kid #3′s goldfish crackers.  Is there an Overeaters Anonymous for felines?  Here’s Anna:

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*I never did figure out how to post a photo in the comments, so here’s The Handbag:

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*Kid #1 drives all over creation, safely and within the speed limit.  He’s completely transportation-independent.  Take heart, moms, it can be done.

*I have no regrets about trading in the minivan for a fuel efficient sedan.  Of course, I haven’t had to load up the cats for a trip to the vet or groomer yet, but my gas expense has been reduced by 60%.

*The lettuce, tomato and carrot seeds we planted are already starting to grow.  See?

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*My friend, Lovely L, ended up confronting the Other Woman and lived to regret it.  Boy, does she regret it.  I never did and I still don’t regret it.

*I went thrift shopping again and found this great dress.

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It’s a floaty chiffon number that I think will be perfect for my nephew’s beach wedding this summer.  And it  was less than $7, so score!  I also bought a Coach turnkey wallet with checkbook for 90% off retail and a brand new, sealed board game that retails for $27 ($3 at the thrift shop).  I’m a complete convert to secondhand shopping.

*I was pissed off by the juxtaposition of two stories on Good Morning America recently.  Here’s Ben Affleck’s Huffington Post piece in which he deftly turns the 1% argument around.  Well done and humble.

*Kid #2 is stable and recovering.  I’m profoundly grateful.

*I’ve never heard from CPS again.  I hope to continue to never hear from CPS in the future.

*I’ve tried all sorts of new things this year and picked up old things that I used to enjoy.  I still go to kickboxing class once a week (kid schedules prevent twice a week attendance); I started going to two weekly yoga classes; I attended a divorce recovery group; I’ve met loads of new people and made some friends; I’m even seriously considering a return to vegetarianism.  I’m letting myself just be me without any concern for what anyone else thinks about my choices.

I feel more like myself now than at any time in the past five years.  I’d gotten so used to being miserable that I almost didn’t notice it anymore.  That’s a lousy place to live.  But passing through has made me more grateful for where I am and where I can go.  It’s a journey worth taking.

 

April Reading

03 Friday May 2013

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Stack Of Books

Stack Of Books (Photo credit: indi.ca)

I read a baker’s dozen books this month, and the best were non-fiction.  Since we started our vegetable seeds in early April, I read a lot of books on gardening.  The seeds are sprouting, so maybe they helped!

Just What I Needed

What A Tomato: Growing Tomatoes My Way by Farm Girl (kindle freebie)  Straightforward, well-written short on growing tomatoes.  The directions were explicit, and the photos helpful.

Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail (paperback recommended by blogging friend Girrl Earth)  Beautifully photographed, well-written guide to growing just about anything edible.  I loved her reuse of materials and advice for both frugal and small space alternatives.  Bonus:  recipes and prep advice included.  Highly recommend.

The Sustainable Living Book for Beginners by Frank Randall (kindle freebie)  An excellent overview of sustainable living practices including gardening, waste management, and energy sources as well as the benefits of minimalism, voluntary simplicity, and frugality on sustainability and self-sufficiency.  The author did an especially good job of encouraging parents to involve kids in the process.  Great starting place.

The Beautiful Home:  Decorating Ideas on a Budget for Your Dream Home by Michelle Stewart (kindle freebie)  A good mix of practical tips and introspective advice (understanding your environmental stress triggers).

Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things (Carrie Carlin Mystery Series #1) by Nancy Tesler (kindle freebie)  A quick murder mystery starring a divorcing mom and her philandering ex.  I really liked Carrie and didn’t mind the bit of romance mixed in.  Figured out whodunit PDQ, though.

Just OK

Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-In-Law Mystery) by Jana DeLeon (kindle freebie)  A well-written mystery with likeable characters in a fun location.  Unfortunately, the mystery had a completely unfair twist and there’s a huge dose of shallow romance.  The ghost-in-law part of the title refers to the heroine’s dead mother-in-law’s ghost (can you imagine?!?) — if that’s not terrifying, I don’t know what is.  Fun for free.

The Five Rings of Minimalism by Karol Gajda (kindle freebie)  The first half of this is fantastic.  It has practical, useful information delivered without preaching.  The introductory chapters have lots of discussion of needs versus wants, and advice on letting go of excess.  The first “ring” is health, which the author contends is easily and cheaply supported by drinking water, exercising daily, and eating a plant-based diet (veganism).  I’m a lapsed vegetarian, and I appreciated his pragmatic, rational presentation of veganism.

The second half of the book fell apart.  The author seemed to run out of enthusiasm and the concepts aren’t complicated, so he repeats himself a lot.  I think the construct of samurai philosophy was a nifty hook that petered out.

Favorite quote:  “We get to write our own story.  It’s a blank canvas and we have control over most aspects of it.”

Death by Cuddle Club (A Dix Dodd Mystery #3) by Heather Doherty and Norah Wilson ($2.99 kindle edition)  Better than #2, not as good as #1.  For most of this installment, Dix is as immature as she was in #2.  But toward the end she got back to the smart PI of #1.  What a relief.  Fair warning, though, it’s a long slog to that point.

The premise of this mystery is just bizarre.  Someone is killing members of a “cuddle club.”  What’s a cuddle club?  A place where people pay what we’re repeatedly told is an outrageous sum of money to cuddle with strangers.  No sex, just cuddling.  If you can get past the weirdness (good luck), the mystery is pretty good.

Not terrible, but wait until it’s free.

Touch of the Demon by Diana Rowland (paperback)  This third book in the Kara Gillian series takes a turn for the seriously twisted.  Clearly, the series is headed away from woo-woo police procedural into dark fantasy.  Engrossing and gory.  Ends on a cliffhanger, again, which has gotten old.  Very few questions from previous books were answered, but a bunch of new ones were raised.  Don’t read this series out of order.

Twice Tempted (A Night Prince Novel) by Jeaniene Frost (paperback)  This is the second book of the second spin-off of the Night Huntress series.  It’s a paranormal romance focusing on vampires.

I like the female protagonist, but the vamp (Vlad, the original Dracula) ran too hot and cold for me.  The ongoing conflict and villain were a stretch.  For fans of the series only.

Just No

No Turning Back (The Kathleen Turner Series) by Tiffany Snow (kindle owner’s lending library)  Far more of a romance than a mystery, which was a shame because the mystery was very topical (electronic voting fraud).  The heroine, Kathleen, was a Mary Sue — a too-stupid-to-live character.  Fortunately for her, she’s pretty and surrounded by handsome, macho guys willing to get her out of trouble.  Aggravating and not my cup of tea.  In the end, the mystery wasn’t even definitively solved.

Smart Gardening:  How to Grow Your Best Vegetable Garden (Gardening Essentials Series) by Keith Parker (kindle freebie)  Marred by bizarre syntax and lack of clarity.

Dieting the Santa Barbara Way:  A Simple and Easy Diet for Health, Happiness and Weight Loss by Jennifer Eickemeyer (kindle freebie)  The “Santa Barbara” diet is veganism on 1,000-1,200 calories per day.  Nothing groundbreaking.  The recipes are fairly complex, and they supposedly serve just one person.  So if you’re a patient, single vegan, this cookbook may serve you well.  Questionable usefulness for families with (picky) kids.

My kindle is stuffed so full that I’ve become paralyzed to make a choice on what to read next.  Any suggestions?

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Mixed Messages

29 Monday Apr 2013

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As I was getting ready this morning, I had the TV tuned to Good Morning America in my bedroom.  Mostly, I wanted to know how long it would take for the local weather to warm up to 70 degrees today.  In the space of 30 minutes, I heard two stories, which when taken together, made my head hurt.

The first was about a new, revolutionary exercise that helped Kelly Osborne drop five pounds and whittle two inches off her waist in a week.  The name Hoopnotica and the description of the round hoops made me peer around the doorway to see.  Yep, hula hoops are now a “revolution.”  The head revolutionary runs an exercise studio, in Malibu, natch.  I was unsuccessful in my google search for a cost on this activity.  My best guess, based on other exercise classes, is $10-20 per class.

A few minutes later, the story was about Ben Affleck, reportedly worth upwards of $65 million, and his weeklong commitment to living on $1.50 worth of food per day.  This is to bring attention to Hugh Jackman’s charity, Live Below The Line, referring to the global extreme poverty line.  The challenge is meant to draw attention to the 1.4 billion people who live on less than $1.50 of food daily.*  It was interesting that the “rules” of this challenge state you can drink unlimited tap water, since 780 million people have limited or no access to clean drinking water. (source)

What struck me as completely ridiculous was the promotion of an exercise method which should be cheap and easy but in fact costs at least one week’s worth of food per the global poverty numbers.  It was cynical of GMA to not only run these stories on the same day, but so close together.  In one breath, GMA promotes excessive material consumption, in the next, they’re spreading guilt thicker than peanut butter, which a billion people can’t afford.

Is it any wonder we’re confused, scattered, and frustrated?

 

*I think this is an admirable cause  and have participated in Food Stamp Challenges, but never one that has such a small dollar allotment.  Even just the mental exercise, what exactly could you buy with $1.50 to feed yourself for an entire day, is humbling.  For a thought provoking visual of what people eat around the world, check out this Time magazine photo essay.

Hey, Hey, Namaste

25 Thursday Apr 2013

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yoga

yoga (Photo credit: GO INTERACTIVE WELLNESS)

I’ve long wished that I liked yoga.  So many people seem to love yoga; it’s a great stress reliever; it builds strength and flexibility.  I really wanted to like yoga.  About once a year, I’d try a yoga DVD, usually highly recommended by someone who loves yoga.  I always end up straining my neck trying to see what’s on the screen while failing to contort my middle-aged body into anything close to the pose.

And I’d give up.

After I started seeing a chiropractor for my injured shoulder, I realized that I’m just not very flexible anymore.  And I randomly fall down the stairs in my house every year or two, so my balance is getting iffy.  I bit the bullet and signed up for a weekly yoga class at my local recreation center.

I wasn’t excited about going to the first class.  In fact, I dreaded it.  Holy cats, the class was awesome.  Incredibly hard in a muscle-shaking way, but relaxing.  And affirming.  The instructor talks through the entire class, peppering her instructions with admonitions like:

“Yoga is not a competition.  Don’t worry about nobody else’s body.”

“If you cannot touch forehead to mat today, do not worry.  You try again tomorrow.”

“Breathe through your nose.  Keep your mouth closed.  You lose energy when your mouth is open.”

That last one is my favorite.  Heaven knows, I lose a lot of energy when my mouth is open, ‘cuz I don’t know when to stop talking.

Even if I’m mentally judging and doubting myself during the class, I’m relaxed and peaceful at the end.  It’s like an hour of moving meditation.  I liked the class so much, I signed up for a second one.  Yep, two yoga classes a week.  I even bought my own yoga mat.  I’ll be touching my forehead to the mat in, well maybe not “no time,” but at some point.  Or not.  Yoga’s not a competition.

Wherefore Art Thou, Sherlock?

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (Photo credit: givingnot@rocketmail.com)

 

I love a good mystery.  I’d even go so far to say that I’m a Sherlock Holmes nerd.  I love the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories.  I’ve assigned them to all three of my kids as part of their homeschooling adventures in literature.  I love the Basil Rathbone movies.  I love the Robert Downey, Jr. movies.  But I really love the BBC/PBS series Sherlock.  (Not to be confused with the American television series Elementary, which may be good, but it’s on so late that I’ve never made it through a full episode.  Plus it’s not available for free streaming, so phooey.)

 

Oh my glory, the BBC (seen on PBS in the US)  Sherlock is awesome.  Great.  Fantastic.  Whatever superlative floats your boat, this iteration of Sherlock is it.  Each episode is a theatrical production.  There were three (90 minute) episodes in each of the two seasons.  You can stream the episodes free with your Amazon Prime membership.  In this production of Sherlock Holmes, the stories are reset in the 21st century with cars, mobile phones, and more CSI technology than you can imagine.  Sherlock is an erudite, self-absorbed prat/genius; Dr. Watson is an Afghanistan war veteran with a blog.  So much fun!

 

I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for the third season.  I’d begun to worry that the series was over (nonononono!), but a simple Google search proved me wrong.  The series, according to this link, will resume airing in January (or possibly March) of 2014.  Whew!  All is right in the Universe.  I’ll keep streaming the reruns in the meantime.  By the time the new season airs, I’ll be able to recite every line of every previous episode, possibly with a British accent.

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Memory Gap

20 Saturday Apr 2013

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albino angora rabbit

albino angora rabbit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Voldemort moved out just over a year ago.  When I was getting the kids’ Easter baskets from the garage last month, maneuvering around the boxes of stuff he’d left behind, I tried to recall last Easter.  I drew a blank.

I thought hard.  Since Easter was the last Sunday in March this year, I thought about the last Sunday in March last year.  It was actually pretty memorable.  I had an inkling Voldemort was leaving, although he hadn’t said anything yet.  That final March Sunday was when I stumbled on the cache of empty tequila bottles he’d hidden.  I was struck dumb by that discovery.  We’d really never been hard liquor drinkers, or so I thought.  Then I discovered clear evidence to the contrary.

That day, those empty tequila bottles started an avalanche of mental connections for me.  All the sick days he took, the morning ritual of coffee, Advil and Pepto capsules.  He must’ve been drinking, a lot, in secret, for a long time.  And I had completely missed it.

So I remember that last Sunday clearly.  But still no Easter memories.  It was driving me nuts.

I remember the first Sunday in April last year, as well.  I knew it wasn’t Easter because it was the first time I attended a monthly support group meeting and the group doesn’t meet on holidays.

Finally, I dug out my 2012 calendar and turned to April.  Ah-ha.  Easter was the second Sunday of April.  And I still couldn’t dredge up a single memory of the day.  I asked my kids.  Kid #2 doesn’t remember last Easter either.  Kid #3 remembered (rather petulantly, I thought) that last Easter was the first time we didn’t do an egg hunt.  “But we still got baskets.”

All I can figure is that my stress and anxiety were so high last year, some mental details were wiped out for me.  The really bad stuff (finding the empty bottles, getting the “Dear Susie” email, telling the kids) is crystal clear.  But the memory of a beautiful Spring day filled with candy is just gone.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

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Heirloom tomatoes are a popular choice for gar...

Heirloom tomatoes are a popular choice for gardeners. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve wanted to start a vegetable garden in my backyard for years.  But I was always bamboozled by the need to create some sort of system to thwart the rabbits and other critters in the yard.  The perfect became the enemy of the good and I was paralyzed.

 

Over our terrible winter of psychiatric issues, kid #2 expressed a desire to grow some of our own food.  But when I mentioned the rabbit challenges, she became discouraged.  Well, hell, that wasn’t my intent.  I decided to make do with what we’ve got and we went forth to our local nursery.

 

 

In addition to Lowe’s and Home Depot, we’re incredibly fortunate to have an organic nursery nearby run by a friendly hippie named Alex.  (A sign on the wall

Marijuana

Marijuana (Photo credit: absolut xman)

warned customers not to ask about marijuana growing techniques as the nursery isn’t part of a growing cooperative.  Welcome to California!)  We threw ourselves at Alex’s mercy and he was very helpful.  He told us which plants grow best here (just about everything with a long growing season), in which soil.  I showed him digital photos of our jerry-rigged planting system — an old wrought iron picnic table with large containers on top — and he was enthusiastic about our chances for success.  We bought heirloom seeds for lettuce, cayenne peppers, tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes, plus organic vegetable soil and biodegradable seed starter pots.  He gave us some heirloom carrot seeds, compost tea and even an additional 10% discount, plus a planting chart and loads of free advice.

 

Kid #2 and I had a great time getting the seeds started and she’s scouring the planting chart with plans for our next set of seeds.  We’re both imagining a bounty of summer vegetables that actually taste like they’re supposed to taste.  Fingers crossed for a bountiful harvest!  Of course, we can always go back and get more advice from Alex, too.

Your name may not be Alex, but any tips on gardening would be heaven-sent.  I’m a little worried about starting from seeds.  Or maybe that’s impatience.

 

Gender Business

11 Thursday Apr 2013

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Roll-on deodorant Rexona "Degree" brand

Roll-on deodorant Rexona “Degree” brand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Why does my grocery store ask my gender on their discount card application?  Are they planning to send me oodles of feminine hygiene coupons?  Does the designation “female” somehow skew my food shopping to such an extent that the local store manager needs to account for me in his weekly orders?

I grew up in the era before feminism became a dirty word.  I don’t mind if you hold the door open for me when entering or exiting a building.  I’ll do the same for you.  I also have trans* friends.  It adds up to my noticing how often and unnecessarily I’m asked my gender, typically along the binary of “male” or “female.”  I’ve filled out the rare form that adds “transgender” to the mix, which I find a lame attempt at inclusiveness.

(Dude, trans*people don’t refer to their gender as “transgender.”  They’re male or female, just like anybody else.)

I’m tired of proclaiming myself male or female just to get a Rite Aid store discount keyfob.

Why, in the 21st century, are we still focused on gender?  And why is knowing another person’s gender considered important?  I think it’s a cop-out; a shortcut to better allow us to categorize people.  If that’s even a little bit true, we really haven’t come a long way, baby.

Or have we become so used to giving out private information for marketing research purposes that we don’t even ask why anymore?  What does it say about modern American society that we’re still being tucked into gender boxes?  Deep down, do we still believe the gender stereotypes?  Does Safeway figure that a “male” wouldn’t use the Kotex coupon?  What if he’s a single dad with three teenage daughters?  Bet he’d appreciate that coupon then.  But that backstory doesn’t fit into a neat little box.  It would require more effort to uncover.

And then there are the gender-specific products, the ones that don’t make any functional sense.  Deodorant, shampoo, hair gel.  The men’s deodorant comes in dark, “masculine” colored packaging; the women’s in pastels with taglines like, “Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.”  What does that mean?  It’s “men’s” deodorant with “women’s” fragrance?  I buy whatever works to keep me from stinking.  It happens to be in a dark package.  Am I less female for that?

When kid #1 was born in 1992, diapers were sold in “boy” designs and “girl” designs.  By design, I mean they were supposedly engineered for best absorption depending on genitalia.  This was what passed for science in diapering.  By 2000, when kid #3 was born, diapers were supposedly engineered by time of day and age of infant.  Not a huge scientific leap, if you ask me.  I couldn’t use a nighttime diaper during the day if I ran out of daytime diapers?  And age of infant is less important than weight when it comes to a diaper that fits well enough to stop leaks without chafing.

Stereotypes.  Women like flowery-fragranced deodorant, while men want a product that works.  It’s insulting.  And stupid.

I’ve been skipping the gender question on forms for a long while, although I’m tempted to check the “male” box just to see what happens.  What do you think?  Do you notice how often you’re asked your gender?  Is it just me?

 

Sea Lion Troubles

07 Sunday Apr 2013

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English: Wild seals and La Jolla Cove in Calif...

English: Wild seals and La Jolla Cove in California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I live in southern California, a place filled with beaches and tourists.  Many residents choose to live here, in no small part, because of the beaches.  One beach has been the center of controversy and litigation for years.  That’s the Children’s Pool at La Jolla Cove.

La Jolla is a “wealthy enclave” of San Diego.  If the name rings a bell, that may be because La Jolla is where Mitt Romney’s (in)famous vacation home with the car elevator is located.  But anyone can go to La Jolla Cove, including sea lions.*

The Children’s Pool is a beach area protected by a seawall where sea lions hang out, and it becomes a pupping area for mama sea lions every year.  The problem is that some people want to protect the Children’s Pool and sea lions, while others want the sea lions evicted due, as far as I can tell, to noise and poop.  More information here, here, and here.

In 2007, we took a family trip (of a lifetime) to the Galapagos Islands through National Geographic Expeditions.  I mention the tour company because they are deeply green.  We were told not to bring soap, shampoo, or hair conditioner as biodegradable products would be provided.  They took great pains to explain the sustainability practices we would be expected to adopt, none of which were onerous.

To get to the Galapagos, we flew from the U.S. to Guayaquil, Ecuador, changed planes, then flew to a tiny airport on one of the Islands.  From there we were loaded onto panga boats and motored out to the big ship.  Walking to the waiting panga, we had to dodge sea lions sprawled on the benches, steps, and the pier itself.  The sea lions were everywhere.  And they didn’t give a tinker’s damn that we were inconvenienced.  We didn’t know what to make of them, but were enthralled.

As we toured the different islands in the Galapagos archipelago, we discovered that the Ecuadorian government is deeply committed to maintaining the natural environment of the Galapagos, including leaving the sea lions the hell alone.  We have (non-digitized) photos of kid #3 swimming in the shallows, surrounded by young sea lions.  They would play with her in the water.  So cool.  The rule was to leave the critters be, but enjoy them (without touching, feeding, or harassing) if they came up to you.

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(Not sea lions, but iguanas all over the rocky shore.  See how the people come right up to them but don’t touch?  I’m pretty sure we can do this in America, too.)

Having that experience and then returning home to the ongoing lawsuits and shouting matches over the La Jolla sea lions was disturbing and frustrating.  I simply don’t understand the sheer ego that dictates eviction of creatures who have just as much right to be on the beach as people do.  And is it really so hard to come up with a way to honor and protect them while still allowing humans to enjoy both the beach and watching the sea lions?  The Ecuadorians didn’t seem to have a problem doing it.  They’ve struck a balance between environmental protection and tourism.  I’ve got the cynical feeling that fighting over the Children’s Pool is a profit center for a bunch of lawyers, and that people who buy multi-million dollar mansions believe they can shape the entire world to their whims.

 

*Some of the marine mammals at La Jolla Cove are California Harbor Seals, some are sea lions.  They’re commonly referred to, as a group, as sea lions by locals.

Shopping Macklemore-Style*

05 Friday Apr 2013

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#ds233 - Secondhand Blues

#ds233 – Secondhand Blues (Photo credit: Sharon Drummond)

Yep, I’m talking about thrift shops.  I shopped at thrift, vintage, and secondhand stores all through college.  Partly because I was poor and partly because my boyfriend at the time was into thrift shops.  He knew all the best ones, so I got spoiled.

After I got settled into a career, I stopped shopping at secondhand stores and had an affair with Nordstrom.  That came to a halt after the birth of kid #1 and my layoff.  Having a baby actually got me back into thrift store shopping, and not just for reasons of frugality.  Babies grow fast, and generally aren’t hard on their clothes as long as you keep stain remover handy in copious amounts.  So buying baby clothes secondhand was cheap and fun.  Ten bucks could get a huge supply of onesies and other infant ensembles.

Toward the late ’90′s baby and kid resale shops seemed to peter out, and my kids were getting to the age where they were harder to fit and shop for.  I got their clothes retail.  When we moved to the suburbs in 2001, there were no thrift shops in easy driving distance either.

A couple of years ago, Goodwill opened a used bookstore in my area and I’ve haunted the place ever since.  Kudos to whomever came up with that stroke of genius.  The place is always packed with customers, mostly for their incredible selection of kid and young adult books.  (It’s also where Beanie Babies go to die; there are hundreds of them in a barrel by the picture books.)

Kid #3′s favorite holiday is Halloween and she plans her costume for months.  Since she’s on Spring break this week, she’s been plotting.  She’s decided to be a character from a favorite video game with whom I’m not even remotely familiar.  I think the girl’s name is Naoto.  She’s a detective in the Persona 4 game.  #3 listed all the items she’ll need to create this costume (pants, apparently plaid; a peacoat or blazer; a dress shirt and tie; a blue wig) and my eyes almost rolled back into my head.  Where the hell do you find plaid pants these days?

Ha!  A thrift store!

I mapped out four thrift shops relatively close-by and we set out.  We spent about three hours shopping and only made it to two of the stores on my list.  But we scored!  We got three very different blazers (including a beautiful Banana Republic in pristine condition that you better believe I tried to stuff myself into…to no avail) for $5.99 each; a Calvin Klein dress shirt in the precise shade of blue she was looking for ($3); a Talbots cardigan for me ($5); two more nice, if a bit random and unnecessary, shirts ($3 each); and a Calvin Klein tie (99 cents).  No luck on the plaid pants, though.  And I gave the handbag section a wide berth ‘cuz I don’t need one slip-up to become a purse bender.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well laid out the first thrift store (Deseret Industries) was, but even the Goodwill had some order imposed.  And thank heavens I no longer have a minivan; I would’ve brought home some furniture that we really don’t need.  But it was cool!  And cheap!

I hope to make shopping at thrift stores a more regular feature now that I’ve got my kids onboard.  They loved the merchandise, the treasure hunt atmosphere, and were totally blown away by the prices.  Of course, we’ve still got to find those blasted plaid pants.

 

*For those unfamiliar with  this reference:  Wikipedia  If you click the video link, put on headphones!  It’s definitely NSFW…or kids.

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